Snow-marooned Rohtang Pass in Himachal re-opens

The Rohtang Pass re-opened Saturday for the traffic after remaining closed for three days due to heavy snowfall, an official said.

The pass connects Manali to Keylong in the picturesque Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh.

"The traffic between Manali and Keylong was restored," Col. Yogesh Nair, commander of the 38 Task Force of General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) here, told IANS.

GREF is a wing of the Border Roads Organisation which maintains forward areas of the country.

Nair said the road stretches near the Rohtang Pass had snow accumulation up to four feet.

He advised the motorists not to cross the pass early morning or late afternoon, as the thick layer of ice is surfacing due to extremely low temperature.

Officials said the dedicated men of GREF worked in a temperature which was 15 degrees Celsius below the freezing point to re-open the traffic on snow-marooned Rohtang Pass located at 3,978 metres in the Pir Panjal mountain range, 51 km from here.

The pass is the gateway to Keylong from Manali in Kullu district, but it remains unreachable from rest of the country for over five months due to heavy snowfall on the road.

Nair said there was record snowfall in the region this season and the snow-clearing operation was a herculean task.